Seeing Things
by angel-wings76
Summary: Harry's left Hogwarts, Voldemorts on full time rampage, and the whole wizarding world is in a frenzy. Even the muggles have started to notice. What can one witch hope to do to help save this slowly sinking world? A lot more than she thought she could.
1. Nighttime Conversations

Seeing Things

**DISCLAIMER:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Some of these characters are mine, though, so if I accidentally copied off some one else's story, well, sorry about that! As far as I know, this is an original idea with original characters.

**Summary: **Alea Avis was a normal British teenager, on a normal vacation, with her normal family. But everything is not as normal as it seems. OCs galore along with the rest of the gang! Enjoy and please R&R!!

**A.N.: **Hi!! This is my first fic, so please: be nice! I've been roaming around for awhile now and finally, I've decided to post a story of my own up. I'll probably get better as I go along. I'm American too, so please excuse me if I get the British wording or anything else wrong. Harry and Co. do show up in the story a little later, too. Reviews are always welcome (HINT HINT!! ), and so is constructive criticism. Enjoy!

**Chapter One**

Nighttime Conversations

An eerie breeze crept around Hemiline Woods Campsite one shadowy night. This particular campsite was located near a northern part of England were barely anyone lived or visited. The dark, dense, woods surrounded the small area on all sides, its trees having so many leaves on them, that the forest was even dark in the daytime. The campsite was a run-down old place that had scarcely enough money to keep it open and at the moment, the only people at this camp was a vacationing family from London named the Avis'. They had rented two tents: one for the couple and the other for their two daughters, ages thirteen and sixteen.

The Avis' had settled into the camp nicely; stood up the tents, made a campfire, had a canned dinner, and finally calmed down for some sleep. Of course, as to be expected the two girls didn't relax as quickly as the adults did.

Inside their tent that night, just barely audible above the whistle of the winds, you could hear a silent argument happening. A light inside flashed on…

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, _pleeease!_ Please, please, please, please, _please!!_" begged an untidy haired brunette.

"No - way!" replied a grumpy, ruffle-haired, sleepy looking girl from the other side of the tent. She slammed the pillow over her head, hiding her strawberry-colored curls to futilely try drowning out her sisters' whining voice. The brunette, though, had decided to try again.

"Oh, come on! Please?" She snatched the pillow away from the redhead's face. The look of annoyance spread wide over the other sisters' features.

"No way, Alea. You're not going into those woods." She listed the reasons off on her fingers. "You could get lost! You don't _know_ what's in there! Mum and Dad would slaughter me if I let you go. And besides that", said the redhead in a superior tone," that old caretaker back there warned us not to go in there alone. "

"Who said I'd be going in there alone, Rachel? You'll be going with me!" Alea rolled her eyes, as though it were obvious.

This struck Rachel as a surprise. "B-b-but,-"

"What are you? Afraid or something? Ha! That's hilarious! Hahaha!"

"I am not, so just shuddup 'Lea!"

"Oh, yes you are! I know when you're afraid. Your cheeks get all pink! So, what are you afraid of? Are you scared that a big, huge, hairy _werewolf_ will pop out and eat you or something?! I mean, just 'cause it's dark in the woods doesn't mean -" she broke off in thought for a moment. Then an evil grin spread across her face. " Oooooh, I get it now! You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?! That's even more hilarious!!" Alea rolled over in her sleeping bag, giggling.

"I thought I told you to shut up! Besides, if you don't you'll wake up Mum and Dad!" said Rachel, jerking her head in the direction of the other tent. "And if you do that, you'll never be able to go into those bloody woods." Rachel paused and then smirked as her voice slowly rose above a whisper. "Never mind me! Be as _loud_ as you want! Don't let me stop you from–"

"Shut up!" whispered Alea, her fit of giggles gone. She sighed. "Ok, you don't want to get caught, right?"

"Correct."

"And I don't want to get caught either," said Alea. "I know that if mum and dad found that we were planning to go into the woods that-"

"Wait. _We_?" said Rachel. "Who ever said that I _was_ going too help you?"

"Oh, get off it Rachel! You know you're going to help me anyways!" snapped Alea.

"You can't tell me what to do!" responded Rachel. "_I'm_ older than you and I'll tell Mum and Dad that you were plotting to go into those dangerous woods. You will so be grounded!"

Alea looked crestfallen at her sister. " Oh, come on, Rachel. I'm sorry I laughed at you, okay? … I didn't mean anything by it…" The teen gave her sister then a sorrowful glance, turned around, and buried herself in her sleeping bag. "I guess I just won't get to go in the woods with you, after all. I really was looking forward to it, too … but we could always find some other way to bond, like… like do our summer homework together…" She sigh miserably.

A wave of guilt passed over Rachel. "Oh -- all right, I-I guess we can go," she sighed.

Alea sprung back up, smiling broadly. "Wonderful!"

Rachel frowned and rolled her eye. _Stupid little prat, leading me on like that._ "But how are we going to get passed that creepy caretaker? What was his name? Mr.—ah, what was it?"

"Karkaroff," said Alea, "Wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I think so … He didn't look too nice."

"Humph," pouted Alea. " You always have to spoil everything." She rubbed her fingers on her temples and closed her eyes, saying nothing, thinking. Now was the perfect time to go over their plan, so she didn't dare lay her head on the pillow, lest she get tired and accidentally drift off to sleep.

"Well," Alea said irritability. She was tired of having her sisters sparks of genius ruin her plan. " You got any bright ideas, Ms. Know-it-all?"

"Um… He seemed to be practically dozing off in his chair when he was signing us into the camp", said Rachel. "Maybe we could just sneak past him?"

"No, no. That won't work…" Suddenly, an excited grin spread over Alea's face. "I know!"

"What?"

"We can make a mess! That should distract him!" said Alea.

"Ha! That's never in a million years going to-"

"Oh come on! What else would we do? Trap him in a net? I know it'll work! Please? Will you trust me?"

_How can I?_ Rachel thought as she rolled her eyes. But she said, "Alright. But for now can we go to sleep? All this bloody planning's getting me so exhausted."

"No way! We're no where near done! Can't we finish this now so we don't have to do it in the morning?" said Alea, who felt anything else but sleepy, actually a bit hyper. Her head was reeling with ideas and she couldn't help but smile.

Rachel reluctantly agreed.

So they talked for a few minutes and got the details of the plan to get the caretaker out of their way. Then they ran into another predicament: their parents. But eventually they figured something out for them too. Having no further problems that they could think of, they decided to get some rest.

After a few minutes of laying on her back and thinking of her adventures she was soon to have, though, Alea started to stretch and yawn. She had suddenly realized how tired she was. The sleeping bag on the hard forest floor suddenly seemed like her soft bed in London and it _was_ quite warm and cozy… Her eyes were begging her to close them and she agreed. Soon she was sleeping silently next to her sister, enjoying dreams of grand adventures, impossible possibilities, and, of course, food.

Though if she had stayed up a little longer she would have found it hard to sleep indeed.

* * *

Out of the forest, seconds after midnight, marched three dark, hooded figures, two with gleaming white masks. Silently and swiftly, they moved across the grounds of the camp, heading for the caretaker's cabin. 

The one to the left had a silver glove, though why he would wear just one was anyone's guess. It seemed to glow with a strange silver light, and if you looked closely it almost seemed attached to his very wrist. He was short and trembled slightly as though he wanted nothing more than to leave the presence of his companions.

"Wormtail," snapped the man to the very right in a harsh voice. Then man to the left tensed. "Stop quavering like an idiot. It is a honor that our Master has graced us with his presence, is it not?"

"Y-yes! Yes of course it is!" he said in a squeaky voice, glancing with frightened blue eyes through his white mask at the center man, whom remained walking towards the cabin. The man called Wormtail did stop shuddering, although his nervous posture was still foolishly obvious, playing with the sleeves of his robe.

The one to the right who had just spoken stood tall and menacing, striding proud next to the one in the center, blonde hair shining under his hood. However, he glared in disgust whenever he could toward the character with the silver-gloved hand, as though he was lower than dirt.

The one in the center stood in front of the others, and had totally ignored their conversation. He seemed much more interested with the task at hand. The man was leading the way towards the door of the cabin. He wore no mask. Two, scarlet eyes flickered on the man's pale face from beneath the figure's hood.

As the man approached the door, he raised his hand, but not to knock on the oaken door. His long skeletal fingers were holding what looked like a skinny, slightly battered bit of wood. The figure pointed it at the door.

"_Alohomora!_" whispered the high, cold voice.

The door jerked open with a loud screech.

The middle figure smiled coldly to himself, seemingly satisfied, as he stepped though the door, the tall man following closely behind. The man called Wormtail paused when he reached the door, then pursued after the others, sweeping in after them, while an unnoticed snake as large as a python slithered in front of the entry.

Inside the hut there was a surprised strangled yelp of a new voice, the caretaker's, and scrambling, as though trying to get to something as quickly as possible, but the harsh, strong voice of the right hand man said, "_Locomotor Mortis!_" There was a loud THUMP! and the clambering stopped with a sudden eerie calm.

"_Accio Wand!_" said the same voice, breaking the silence.

The cold voice of the middle man could then also be heard, talking icily to the caretaker inside, voice dripping with mocking fake concern. "Well, well, well. I was beginning to wonder… Karkaroff, were have you been? We've all been so… worried about you…"

There was an evil snicker and the colossal snake then crept in and the door shut behind it.

For a few minutes, all that could be heard was the silent talk of the two men, the caretaker's stuttering and hesitating, the others biting, accusatory, and pitiless.

But then, suddenly, the caretaker's voices rose into a frantic plea. It was no good. Muffled cries of pain could be heard from inside. Cruel, cold, laughter followed. Then the voice cried some unheard incantation, and the screaming stopped.

The door opened seemingly on its own accord yet again. The hut was encroached in darkens, the lights inside appeared to have been put out.

From the doorway the hostile voice could be heard, saying "I do not take kindly to cowardice, Karkaroff, which you have shown much of these past few years. Too much of. And that greatly irritates me. Wormtail here knows well what happens when you displease Lord Voldemort…" An evil, amused grin spread across Voldemort's face. "Don't you Wormtail?"

There was a terrified gulp and then the squeaky, slightly trembling voice said, "Y-y-yes M-master." What little of Wormtail's face that could be seen from under his mask had gone white with fright at being addressed and was glancing at the battered stick in his Master's long fingers worriedly.

Voldemort laughed, high and cold, piercing the night like a blade tearing silk.

"I believe we shall meet again soon Karkaroff," said Voldemort with a cackle. And the men who had entered just minutes before now exited the dark hut. Voldemort lead the way, followed by Wormtail, who was at, most likely, what he thought a safe distance away.

The tall man, though, paused in the doorway, glanced over his shoulder at Voldemort and Wormtail for a moment, and then whispered something indistinct to the caretaker, who was at the moment, panting on the floor. The masked man handed something to him, and swept quickly towards his companions, who were heading for the woods. They didn't seem to have noticed his private word with the owner of the campsite.

Everything was silent as the three men walked back towards the forest, the snake following close behind. It's scales glittered as the clouds parted to reveal the crescent moon. The breeze picked up, moving the clouds back over the moon, making its feeble light fade as quickly as it had come. Then the snake and three men disappeared with a small pop, leaving no trace that anyone had been there.

* * *

Eyes snapping open, the young man came to, fighting for breath. Sitting up slowly, as though it pained him to move, he reached a shaking hand to his forehead and winced at the touch. Removing his hand and groping blindly in the darkness beside his bed, his fingers curled around cold, smooth wood. Sighing in relief, the man whispered, "Lumos," and a soft glow filled the room. 

The raven-haired man with the bright green eyes sat there like that for a minute, regaining his breath. _I better owl Dumbledore about this,_ he thought with a grimace on his face, remembering the promise he'd made to the old man. He placed a pair of glasses he'd found on a desk on his nose lightly and turned his gaze to a clock hung on the wall opposite him: 25 minutes after midnight. Looking past the clock and raising his wooded stick to spread the light, he spotted the empty birdcage at the top of the wardrobe. He sighed.

"Hedwig still isn't back yet," he muttered to himself. _If she isn't back by tomorrow_, he thought, _I guess it's a trip to Hogwarts for me._

**

* * *

A.N.: Sooo? Whadda ya think? If you stick with the story for a while longer, the writing will get better, I promise! **

I'm suspecting that when Karkaroff ran into the Forbidden Forest after the third task, he was too afraid to go back to Voldemort and his deatheaters. So, he got outside the Anti-Apparation wards, and Disapparated to a small muggle village to hide as a 'normal person'. Well, it didn't say anything about him in the 5th book, so I believe that's what happened.

Karkaroff isn't the main character in my story, though, don't worry! It's going to be mostly Alea, and a fair dose of Harry, too.

Please REVIEW!!! I'd love to get some feedback so the next chapter can be even better! THANKS!!!

**Next Chapter:** The girls put into action their plans to get their parents out of the campsite and to put Karkaroff out of the way.


	2. Into The Woods

**DISCLAIMER:** Am I going to have to do this every chapter? Oh well, people always seem to have so much fun with them! The characters in this story as well as the setting and ideas belong to the wonderful, glorious, goddess of writing, J.K. Rowling! A lot of the characters are mine, though, as is the plot, so no stealing!

**A.N.: **Hiya and thank you for reading the second chapter of my story! bows I hope you enjoy it! In this chapter, though, I am sorry to say that there will be no appearance of Harry. sad sigh But there is the next chapter! And the chapter after that! So Harry lovers, stay tuned!

**Chapter 2**

Into the Woods

"_RAAAAAGH!_"

Karkaroff sprang up in his bed like a jack-in-the-box, breathing heavily, eyes wide. _What a dreadful dream_, he thought, running a hand through his hair. But as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, the pain that coursed through his left arm told him otherwise. He clutched it as a stinging sensation crept through his stiff body.

He rolled up his sleeve and looked at it. The skull encompassed by the snake seemed more gruesome than ever, relentlessly burning pitch black into his pale skin.

What was it that Voldemort had said_? 'I believe we shall meet again soon, Karkaroff_…' Eurgh. Even the thought of that cold voice made him shiver.

_Wait a minute…_ thought Karkaroff. _He said he'd be…_

_COMING BACK!_

"Shit!" he swore to himself. _I've got to leave… I've got to get out of here!_

* * *

An hours or so ago...

* * *

"Hey," whispered Rachel. "Hey, Alea, you've got to wake up and get ready for the woods now." 

"Just a few more minutes," groaned Alea. She yawned and turned over in her sleeping bag.

Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her sister. "No, not in a few more minutes! You have to start getting ready _now!_ _I'm_ already set to leave. If you don't hurry up, then you might never be able to go. And besides, you're the one who wanted to be the explorer today, not me! And you'll miss it just because you wanted to sleep in! So stop being such a lazy git and _wake up_!"

"Oh, all right, all right, I'm going." muttered Alea, rubbing her eyes and sitting up in a sleepy daze. "Remind me again. Why we're waking up this early?"

"Because we need to get Mum, Dad, and that creepy caretaker out of this campsite as soon as possible!"

"Oh… yeah." Alea slipped on some new clothes as she talked to Rachel. She was so tired that it took her a whole minute to realize that her shirt was on backwards. She smiled sheepishly at her sister.

Raising an eyebrow but saying nothing of it, Rachel continued. "Okay, so who do you want to work on first?"

"Huh?"

Rachel rolled her eyes again.

"Who should we get out of the campsite first?" she said pronouncing every syllable loudly and accurately.

"Oh! Uh, why not Mum and Dad?"

"Finally! I got through that _thick_ head of yours. Alright, lets go."

". . . How are we going to do this again?"

Rachel sighed, and said, "Just follow me."

* * *

"Glad to see you girls are awake and moving!" said Mrs. Avis brightly. 

Mr. Avis just mumbled grumpily under his breath, never quiet the morning person. He took out his lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He removed one, lit it, and stuck it between his teeth.

Mrs. Avis frowned. "Please, dear, not so early in the morning…"

The whole family knew that Mrs. Avis absolutely detested her husbands habit, as she frequently reminded them, always scolding Mr. Avis for it.

"Morning Mum, Dad," said Alea brightly, hoping to divert their attention from the impending row. It wouldn't do to have _that_ argument between them, today of all days.

Thankfully, everyone relaxed somewhat.

"Morning, Alea. How did you sleep?"

"Marvelous, Mum!" she smiled. Alea pulled some dark hair out of her light green eyes and put it in a bobby pin. She was much more awake now. She had changed into green T-shirt and flare jeans. She wore her hiking boots, too, which she had bought specially for the trip.

"Would you like some breakfast, dears?" asked her Mum, motioning to a small fire that she was keeping a pan of sizzling sausages warm over. The pan next to it was filled with fluffy, golden pancakes.

"Yes, Ma'am!" said Alea, grabbing a plate and forking some food onto it.

Rachel glanced at Alea disgustedly who was shoveling food into her mouth. Alea slowed down, glaring at her sister, as if to say _'What! I'm hungry!'_ It was true, too, seeing as she hadn't had much of a dinner last night, it being mostly canned food.

"So, Mum, what are we going to be doing today?" asked Rachel, looking back to her parents.

"We were thinking of going to explore the local village. While we were driving through, I saw the most adorable souvenir shops and some delightful little cafes! We'll have lunch, and then maybe do some sight seeing!"

Alea and Rachel both silently doubted that there would be many sights to see in a town as small as this. Mrs. Avis, though, having lived in busy, bustling London most of her life, would have an absolute ball there.

"Oh, that, um, sounds great but wouldn't you two rather go alone?" said Rachel. Alea nodded helpfully. "I mean, you two barely get any time to yourselves these days, and me and 'Lea were talking about it last night and we decided you could, you know, just do whatever you wanted to today. Have a romantic candle-light dinner… ur, go see a movie… you know!"

Mrs. Avis frowned apprehensively. "That _does_ sound nice, I suppose... but what about you girls? Surely you don't want to stay here alone all day…?" she said disapprovingly.

"Oh, Mum, you know us!" said Alea cheerfully. " We'll find _something_ to do. We can have some chips and sandwiches for lunch and, uh, maybe help out poor Mr. Karkaroff!" She slapped a crooked grin spreading on her face. '_They don't know the half of it_,' she thought to herself.

"Well, ah, alright. I guess we could do that, yes," said Mrs. Avis reproachfully. "What do you think, Michael?"

Mr. Avis coughed as he sat up straighter. He glanced from Alea to Rachel and declared, "They're old enough to look after themselves, Stace."

She sighed. "Well, then, I guess it's settled", said Mrs. Avis anxiously. "Your father and I will get ready, then." She still seemed to think that it wasn't such a good idea for them to be left all on their own.

And by the sad smile on Rachel's face, she didn't seem to think it was such a good idea, either.

"Two down, one to go!" whispered Alea excitedly, waving as her parents drove off.

* * *

Alea and Rachel walked across the camp to the storage shed. It was a small dingy shack that needed grave remodeling, with the door only hanging by its hinges and some boards contaminated with mold. 

"Look's like _this_ is going to be an easy break in," stated Alea confidently.

"I wouldn't be so-"

"Oh, hush up!" said Alea jokingly. She tugged on the door handle once, but nothing happened. And then twice, but it wouldn't budge. _Well,_ she thought, irritated, _third time's a charm_. She pulled again, so hard she was afraid the boards might break, but it still refused to move.

"Alea, you're going to hurt yourself. There's a lock, stupid! Now what?" said Rachel.

"Hold your shirt on. I'm not finished yet," muttered Alea, blushing, feeling quiet foolish. She hated it when Rachel corrected her like that.

They sat in silence for awhile, trying to find a safe way to break in when…

"On your head," said Rachel, pointing.

"What?" asked Alea, thoroughly confused. "Is there a bug in my hair or something?"

"The bobby pin in your hair, idiot," said Rachel rolling her eyes. She was quite short on patience. It would all be Alea's fault if old Karkaroff caught them.

"Oh!" Out of her hair, Alea pulled the bobby pin she had put it in at breakfast. Sometimes, Alea guessed, it paid off watching those silly mystery shows that her sister enjoyed so much.

Alea stuck the pin in the keyhole and started jiggling it around. She thought that she was close to getting it… just a little more!… when she suddenly felt a sharp zap of something run up her arm. She let go of the pin in surprise, and, crazy as it sounded, watched as it seemed to be spat out of the lock and onto the ground.

"It… it must be rigged, or something," stammered Alea, staring at the strange lock and massaging her hand. "We're not going to be getting in that way anytime soon, that's for sure."

They both stared at the lock for a little longer, utterly bemused.

"Couldn't we just break down the boards? I mean, some of them look pretty weak to me," commented Alea

"No. Karkaroff will have known we would have made the mess, then."

Alea sighed. "Well, unto Plan Bthen."

"Oh, must we?"

"Of course! Besides, this way is _much_ more fun."

* * *

Back to the present…

* * *

Karkaroff turned and looked at the bed stand next to him, examining the electric digital clock. 11:37. He had come quiet accustomed to the muggle way of life these past six years. Of course, he would have much rather lived back in the wizarding world, but hey, living was living. 

Karkaroff stood up slowly and started to hobble (the mark was still bothering him, and when it bothered, it hurt all over) towards his emergency suitcase, which he always kept handy, when, suddenly, he slipped on something.

Soap, of all things. _When did I put that there? What kind of idiotic person am I, to leave soap in the middle of the floor?_ Of course he didn't _really_ have enough time to think all this because he was, of course, slipping.

"AAAARGH!"

He skidded forward on the soap, flailing his arms around, until he tripped over a piece of string. There was a series of clangs, clunks, bangs, and thumps as he tripped. He flew down towards the floor, head first. But he never hit it, for he was jerked into the air. He had been – he was caught in a bloody net…!

"What the...?"

Was this Voldemort's doing? Had he suspected him to run? Was this his utterly demented idea of amusement? But that chance was soon driven out of his mind by a strange noise from somewhere out his window.

Laughter?

He turned around, or at least tried to, and saw two teenage girls popping their heads out his window. They walked through the door, which had been left slightly ajar since the visit last night. One, a brunette, was giggling like a maniac. The other, a red head, was gazing up at him with sorrowful eyes.

The giggling one said to him, "Sorry, old man. Y-you had the storage cupboard locked up so tight, that we couldn't get anything to make a mess with. We had to use our own stuff and go t-to P-p-plan B." At this, she went into hysterics.

"And why, might I ask, did you bring a net with you?" asked Karkaroff in a strangled voice.

"Actually that's a good question…Why did we bring one?" asked Alea curiously.

"You can never be too careful," said Rachel superiority.

"Yeah, you never _know_ when you might need one," said Alea, mocking Rachel, still giggling.

"Oh, shut up, Alea!" said the red head. "D' you know how much trouble we're going to get in for this?"

"Awww. Come on Rachel," the girl named Alea whined. "You have to admit it's at least kind of funny? Besides, you of all people should know how persuasive I am. He won't tell _anybody_."

Karkaroff glared at the pair of them.

"You think you can keep me from telling your parents about this? Oh, no. You'd better watch out, 'cause when they see what you've done-"

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry," said the brunette who didn't look sorry at all, "but our parents are gone for the evening. And while _we're_ gone, you'll have this to think about." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "If you tell anyone about our leaving, I'll tell our mum and dad that you steal your customers money from their wallets while you think their not looking and we ran off into the woods because you threatened us when we figured 'it' out."

Karkaroff laughed. "And who do you think they'll believe? You or me?"

"Oh, definitely us. They'd trust us with their lives," said the brunette. "Without a doubt," she finished with a little nod.

The red head glanced over at Karkaroff. "Here." She said, and handed over a chocolate bar, a water bottle, and a sandwich. "Incase you get hungry. Ok, Alea, well, it's now or never. Let's go," she said to her companion.

"Right," said Alea, finally calmed down, though still smirking at Karkaroff.

And together, they left Karkaroff's cabin.

And Karkaroff, with it.

"Wait! Just where do you think you're going! You've had your fun now get me down from here! If you don't I'll-"

But the brunette, Alea, he remembered, simply turned around, stuck out her tongue at him, and slammed the door shut in the poor guy's face. He never even got to finish his sentence.

"Well," he said to himself. He dug his hand into his bedclothes' pocket. "No matter. I'll just use my wand and cut these ropes away. Stupid little fools. Will they ever be in trouble once I-"

Again, he was stopped short.

_Where the heck is my wand? _he thought fiercely to himself.

He turned around again and – "Damn", he said weakly to himself.

For there lay his wand, on his bedside table, just out of his reach.

* * *

"Well, now that that's over with-" started Rachel. 

"We can finally go into the woods!" finished Alea excitedly.

"Not exactly the way I was going to put it," said Rachel in an aggravated tone.

The two sisters walked off towards the woods at a quick pace, but then, as they neared the tents, Rachel pulled away.

"What are you doing? Not chickening out now, are you?" asked Alea.

"No, I'm not 'chickening out'. I'm getting our things, if you don't mind."

"…What do you mean by… 'our things'?"

"It's our supplies… for just in case we get lost or something."

Alea starred in disbelief as her only sibling dragged out two boulder-like bags from inside their tent. Rachel grunted as she heaved one up over her shoulder and passed the other one over to Alea.

She started counting on her fingers. "It's got soap, a flashlight, three days ration of food and water, some pans for cooking the food, one of Dad's cigarette lighters, to start a fire, of course, a blanket each, one of those electric compasses that Mum bought us, extra batteries, a first-aid kit, and clothes. Oh yeah, and mine also has a cell phone and a couple of maps," she added.

"And when, exactly, did I state we were going on an African Safari?" asked Alea, who had been taken aback by the backpacks. "We don't need half that stuff! All we would've needed, if anything, would have been a snack, a flashlight, and maybe a water bottle."

"No point in not being prepared," said Rachel matter-of-factly. "Just carry it around, okay? 'Cause if you don't, I'm not going."

"Whatever," said Alea, rolling her eyes at her sister's antics. "Let's just go!" She dug out her watch from the backpack and looked at the time. It was 12:05. "Let's stop wasting time so we can have as much in the woods as we can get!" she said with an impish grin.

And, swinging her immense backpack over shoulder, stumbling slightly at the weight, she and her sister, at long last, trooped into shady Hemiline woods.

**A.N.:** FINISHED CHAPTER TWO! HORAY! Okay, next chapter: more Karkaroff, Alea and Rachel will start their trek into the woods and we'll get to see more Harry! Everyone loves Harry! Oh! And please R&R!


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